The Taste of Cinnamon
by Nifawiwa
Summary: AkaKuro Week 2017, Day 4. The Akashi twins have always competed over everything, be it in academics or sports. And now with Tetsuya in the picture they have a new goal: who shall become his partner? Little do they know, Tetsuya has other plans regarding this argument.


_**Okay, okay, I'm a tad late, but this was honestly very hard to write. I had to separate Bokushi and Oreshi very clearly and it took awhile for me to indulge in their roles. But! I did something. I tried to anyway.**_  
 _ **And c'mon, if you know me, you know how much I love the psychology of Akashi, and now I had two! So it was very fun, but took a turn I was not prepared for.**_  
 _ **So without further adieu, welcome to day 4 for AkaKuro week 2017!**_

* * *

 _The Taste of Cinnamon_

Tetsuya was simply enjoying his lunch break in peace, indulging himself in the new book he managed to acquire awhile back and just relaxing, when his serene silence was broken by a voice he was all too familiar with. Of course he didn't notice them approaching him, usually he disregarded any people walking near him, since _usually_ he wasn't their object of interest. But alas, that wasn't the case _all the time,_ especially with these two, which wasn't the case _at any time_. How all of this happened, Tetsuya wasn't sure anymore.

''Kuroko, hello,'' the redhead known for his politeness, great teamwork skills, preciousness as some liked to say, and overall a lad you wouldn't be surprised to see sparkles flying around – the _good_ twin to put it shortly – addressed Tetsuya in that warm tone of his. ''We're very sorry to interrupt you, but we need your help.''

The tealnet lifted a brow at that and looked between the two redheads. Both of them seemed quite serious and, honestly speaking, quite irked. Of course, it was one of _those times._

''Another argument?'' Tetsuya asked rather blankly, since the answer was already clear. For some inexplicable reason, whenever these two got into a quarrel, they always sought for Tetsuya to come to a compromise for them. And these times happened quite frequently.

''Yes, and it's quite urgent,'' the second redhead, the one famous for his stern ruling, unwavering authority, cold attitude and rumors about the devil itself possessing him, but still _somehow_ with a bigger fan-base than the first one (how, Tetsuya certainly wasn't sure, maybe because of his mesmerizing heterochromatic eyes) – or in other words, the _evil_ younger twin – nodded in agreement, crossing his arms over his chest.

Tetsuya sighed softly and closed his eyes for a couple of beats. And here he thought he would have a nice relaxing afternoon.

''Okay, let's hear it,'' he finally spoke, opening his eyes and looking between the two. ''What seems to be the problem this time?''

''We keep arguing who should take you to the university's annual festival,'' the second twin announced matter-of-factly.

Tetsuya wasn't as surprised as some would have thought. Still, for awhile he could just stare at him, trying to understand what he heard was correct.

''That's too blunt, Senjirou,'' the first one scolded him. ''You need to approach such a topic with care. That's exactly why I think I would be a better candidate, you just lack some fundamental understandings.''

''I really don't need you to tell me what I should and shouldn't do,'' the other retorted quite coldly. ''Besides, if not for me, you would have _long_ since been-''

''Okay!'' Tetsuya promptly cut him off with a wave of his hands. He _really_ wasn't in the mood to listen to these two's never-ending feud regarding their personal lives. ''Let's not venture there.''

Honestly, Tetsuya was the only person who could interrupt Senjirou like that and not be sent to hell. On the contrary, it was quite tolerable. The redhead only huffed at his words, but silently agreed nonetheless, not without casting a glare at his dear brother of course and being rewarded with the same look, or at least similar, since not everyday one could witness _Seijuurou_ actually glaring at someone with such intensity as his brother. One could say the latter had mastered the art of cold looks.

''Right, then back to the matter at hand,'' Seijuurou shifted his attention back to Tetsuya, his eyes immediately softening.

The tealnet once again heaved a sigh and lightly rubbed his temple. Well this ought to be interesting.

''...So what exactly do you expect me to do about this... argument of yours?'' he asked, glancing between the two redheads.

''We need you to decide who would be a better candidate for you.''

''Based on your phrasing...'' Tetsuya started slowly. ''You're not asking me to _choose_ between you two, but rather help you to decide which one of you would fit better for me? Like a mediation?''

''Yes,'' the two answered in unison, completely seriously.

Tetsuya stared at them for a few long moments before he released a long sigh and lightly shook his head.

''Sometimes, you two are unbelievable,'' he murmured under his breath, closing his book. ''Instead of just asking me, you wish to create some sort of _judgment process_. Or are you just scared I wouldn't chose either of you and that's why you requested this?'' he glanced between the twins.

The redheads remained silent at that, but judging by how Seijuurou averted his eyes from him in discomfort while his brother's eye slightly twitched, Tetsuya decided he was on point.

''Right...'' the unamused male heaved another sigh. ''I still don't quite understand how this is supposed to work, but I guess I'll agree.''

''Thank you,'' Seijuurou cast him a small smile. ''When are you free, then?''

''I suppose today after classes would be fine...''

''Great, we'll meet you then.''

And with that, the two redheads left Tetsuya on the bench alone, most likely to return back to class. The tealnet observed them for a bit, watching how they most likely once again started bickering, judging by the way the younger twin kept snapping at his brother, while the latter answered him visibly irked. Soon enough they were gone from Tetsuya's sight, and the tealnet was left only with his thoughts.

Ah, the Akashi twins. The most famous heartthrobs of Teikou University. Not only did they have a mutual fan-base as brothers, but also, as mentioned before, separate ones as well. The latter two were quite... aggressive towards each other. Well, they learnt from the best after all, their idols to be precise. If one would claim they had seen the two brothers actually getting along, either no one would believe them, or they would be met with utter amazement. No, it was almost impossible to see the Akashi twins actually interacting with each other as friends. Perhaps they were simply too different, like water and oil. Different principles, morals, goals.

And everyone had very clear judgment of both of them.

Seijuurou, the older twin, was always viewed as the _good_ brother. Everyone respected him because he respected everyone in return. Girls claimed that when he smiled, sparkles flew around, which obviously caused heart failures ( _that's a bit over-exaggerating, but oh well_ ). No one was scared to approach him for help or any advice in general. As already mentioned, he had excellent teamwork skills. However, opposite as many would believe, he wasn't a social butterfly, far from it. Seijuurou preferred to keep a small circle of friends and build few, but strong relationships. Perhaps that was why so many girls ( _and even boys, mind you_ ) loved him and found him _cute._ Tetsuya wouldn't know. What he did, though, was that everyone only saw the warm, positive part of him.

While his brother... Everyone knew him as the _evil_ twin. And honestly, he really looked like it. The intimidating dark aura that surrounded him 24/7 ( _or so they thought_ ), the way he walked through the corridors and everyone backed away as much as possible ( _except his fangirls, they were far too brave for their own good_ ), how his mismatching eyes always gleamed with coldness and power, the way his voice stroke fear into many... It wasn't hard to see why most feared him so. A lot even believed he was the incarnation of the devil himself for various reasons, such as his never-ending hunger for power, unbreakable authority, claims of being absolute, and so on. And yet, his fans were much more... odd. A rather big portion of them was straight up _obsessed_ with this redhead. Tetsuya would try to stay away from that special breed as much as possible, they knew no lengths when it came to their so-called _love_. If his brother had a small circle of friends, then he had a small circle of _acquaintances_ , yet even so to the public their relationship was odd, somewhat distant. Who would want to be friends with him, after all? But again, Tetsuya thought, everyone just knew of Senjirou's cold, negative side.

The Akashi twins were truly an interesting, unique specimen. They were as opposite as hot and cold, always competing against each other, yet there was one detail of interest that united them. Everyone knew that they weren't exactly the most social people and neither had a partner. They were just idols, unreachable by most and almost everyone believed they honestly had no interest in anyone. However, only a selected few were aware of the real situation. The truth was, almost from the first day freshman year both of the twins laid their eyes on a certain someone. Tetsuya still wasn't sure how it happened – he always thought of himself as quite blank, uninteresting, not to mention his low presence, yet nevertheless not even a week had gone by after the start of his first year before Seijuurou approached him, with his brother following soon enough. The tealnet didn't know whether both of them actually _liked_ him or was it merely for the sake of new competition, but the result was still the same – ever since then the two twins kept fighting for Tetsuya's attention, since the quiet male wasn't too interested in either of them ( _initially that is_ ) and wasn't like their many fangirls and fanboys, dying just get a chance to talk to them. No, he regarded them as just a couple of his fellow students. That didn't mean he ignored them or acted in any way unfriendly, far from it, he was as polite as with everyone else that approached him, equally so. But what he _did_ ignore was their quite obvious approaches. Not that it demotivated them in the least. On the contrary, they were more fired up than before each time Tetsuya blatantly ignored their approaches on him. It was quite amusing, really.

However, as already mentioned, Tetsuya didn't know what sort of feelings the two brothers held for him, but he did know that somewhere along the path he himself started experiencing a strange pull towards them. It would have been very easy to answer to their moves on him, but Tetsuya never did, at least not clearly.

For various reasons.

The quiet student heaved a soft sigh as he finally stood up from the bench. He must return to class already, lunch break was almost over. He still had quite a few classes left. Now, however, he had something to look forward to afterwards.

~.~.~.~.~

When Tetsuya finally walked through the university's gates, he wasn't surprised to see the two redheads already waiting for him. However, he did wonder how each of them managed to schedule their time accordingly, since both had important duties at university and usually because of them they had to work over-time. Now, regarding their posts – it was yet another argument that Tetsuya had to solve for both parties to be happy, or at least not too displeased. It was already a given that one of them would take the president's post, that was obvious practically from the first day. And it would have been extremely hard for Tetsuya to come to a compromise if only such duties were on the table. However, both twins also took great interest in basketball, and now Tetsuya had something to work with. Both of them were excellent players and could certainly lead their team to victory – in their own ways that is. However! The tealnet was exactly the same and had his own principles in life. He believed such a sport as basketball should be revolved around teamwork, so it wasn't hard to guess how the two twins ended up. For some reason they really took Tetsuya's opinion into consideration and almost all of their feuds were solved thanks to this certain quiet student. But new ones kept arising each day, this one was no exception as it seemed.

''Hello again,'' Tetsuya greeted the two. ''I see you're still fixed on your request.''

''Of course, we must solve this as quickly as possible,'' Senjirou nodded at him.

It seemed this was very important for them. Only then did Tetsuya realize what they were thinking about: whoever would win, would win more than just a date. If any of them would become Tetsuya's partner, it would be that person who won this argument.

Great, now the heaviness of this problem just increased by tenfold.

''Right... How exactly will this work, then?''

''That's up for you to decide,'' his brother shrugged.

''Okay... Perhaps we could head to a cafe of some sorts, then,'' the tealnet suggested, glancing over to his clock. They still had some time.

''As you wish.''

And so, the trio left the university's premise into the buzzing city. Truth be told, for awhile now Tetsuya had this certain idea that he wished to test, and this so-called request seemed like a good opportunity to do so. And he had just the means in mind to accomplish that...

Soon enough the small company found a nearby cafe, luckily not too crowded. After they walked in, Tetsuya immediately asked whether they would like something, seeing as how there was a queue. Senjirou glanced at the menu momentarily and without choosing too much informed them of his order he wished to place. Tetsuya too said his own and looked at Seijuurou.

''I'll go place the orders, then,'' the redhead announced, already approaching the line. ''You two find a table.''

Something visibly irked the other twin off, but he chose not to comment on it. Instead, he quietly complied and after quickly scanning the area, beckoned for Tetsuya to follow him to an empty round table by the window. The pair settled in and the tealnet fixated his gaze on the redhead before him, who, strangely enough, kept glancing to the queue with slightly pursed lips. Tetsuya could quite easily guess what was annoying him. Nevertheless, he pretended to be ignorant.

''Is something the matter, Akashi-kun?'' the tealnet asked with a light tilt of his head.

''Mm?'' he hummed a bit absentmindedly, shifting his attention back to the smaller male. ''Oh, no. Everything is fine. In fact, everything is splendid,'' he cast one of his small smirks, crossing his legs and intertwining his fingers on the round glass table. ''I don't get a lot of chances to converse with you nowadays, Tetsuya. Especially not at least for a few minutes alone.''

''There isn't much to talk about with me, honestly.''

''Nonsense,'' the redhead immediately objected. ''You are far more... intriguing than any of my acquaintances.''

''Even Mayuzumi-san?'' Tetsuya murmured quietly, averting his eyes somewhere to the window.

His companion visibly seemed taken aback, given by the way his eyes widened at the slightly scathing question. He pursed his lips a bit and uncrossed his legs, leaning in closer to the almost inexplicably irked tealnet.

''Tetsuya, we already talked about this,'' the young student spoke in a low voice, his sharp eyes not once leaving the other. ''I explained myself, did I not? I admitted I had made a mistake, must you be angry with me still?''

''It's fine,'' Tetsuya sighed softly, folding his arms, yet still refusing to shift his gaze to the boy in front of him.

''There's no need to be jealous, Tetsuya,'' the redhead's lips shaped into a knowing smirk once more.

''I am not,'' the other denied with a light huff.

''Tetsuya~''

''Really, I'm not.''

''You're cute when you're jealous.''

''You know, Akashi-kun, I am completely free to leave this minute if I so wished for it,'' Tetsuya cast him a blank look.

''Okay, okay,'' Senjirou chuckled lightly, leaning back in his chair. It was always fun to tease his little phantom.

However, his smirk was soon gone from his lips as he once again shifted his look back to the queue. He narrowed his eyes at something Tetsuya couldn't see due to his sitting position, but before he could ask what the problem was, the redhead stood up.

''Excuse me for a moment,'' he muttered as he strode off, sounding... dangerously cold. Tetsuya wasted no time in turning in his seat what could have been the reason for such a quick change in emotion.

It seemed there were some problems near the counter. From what the tealnet observed, some man accidentally bumped into Seijuurou, which caused him to spill his drink onto himself. Unfortunately, that man had a short temper and it resulted in a feud, mostly from his part. Seijuurou tried to calmly explain the situation, being the well-mannered student that he was (though even he couldn't keep the irritation and coldness from seeping into his look), however, that didn't work too well. Tetsuya didn't know what were the man's intentions as he rose his hand, but whatever plans he had were foiled.

''I'd suggest you be more careful who you mess with,'' the younger twin spoke lowly, his voice dripping with venom as he clenched the man's wrist painfully. His piercing, deadly look bore into the man's eyes, freezing the poor victim from fear. The male was very obviously _displeased._ ''Or you may regret the day you were born once I'm done with you.''

The man could only gulp in fear and once he felt the death grip on his wrist loosen, he abruptly retracted his hand and practically bolted out the cafe, forgetting all about his earlier outburst. Senjirou stared at the exit for a short while, seemingly chasing after that man with his eyes (what a shame he left so early, Senjirou had such marvelous plans for that scum already), when he felt a light tug on his sleeve from behind. Glancing back, he was met with a surprised Seijuurou, but quickly his lips shaped into a small, albeit sincere smile, as if his way of thanking him silently. The other merely huffed at it and walked away from him without a single word. He didn't have to explain himself, after all.

Once Senjirou was back at the table again he noticed that Tetsuya had a strange smile, once that reached his eyes. The redhead lifted his brows at that and asked:

''What is it?''

Tetsuya weakly shook his head, momentarily closing his eyes. Once he had his look back to the student in front of him, he spoke:

''I'm not usually fond of such behavior, but that was very... nice of you.''

His companion clicked his tongue at that comment, averting his eyes from the tealnet to somewhere to the streets. He rested his head in his palm as a dark shadow crept onto his gaze and he responded coldly:

''Yes, well, only I can mess with my brother. Anyone else who dares to do so will meet an early end.''

Honestly, Tetsuya really didn't like such dark words, but in this case... If truth be told, he found the other's protective behavior quite endearing. That was the side of him not many were familiar with. The fact that Senjirou would gouge out anyone's eyes if they as much as told a bad word to his twin in his presence wasn't known all that much and wasn't included in people's judgment of him. No, everyone only saw him snapping at or arguing with his brother, so they more or less thought he despised his oh-so slightly older sibling. Everyone believed the younger twin would throw his brother off a bridge if he had such an opportunity. That couldn't have been more further from the truth. The fiery redhead would never admit it out loud, but under all those masks of impassiveness and at times resentment hid deep care. Almost instinctive.

Tetsuya gazed at the redhead before him for a few seconds with a soft smile before he quietly reached out and took the other's free hand on the table with his own. Senjirou seemed a bit startled, given that he had been lost in his own thoughts, and directed his slightly wider eyes to the tealnet in front of him, lifting his head from his palm. Tetsuya smiling so lovely was an incredibly rare sight, he didn't usually gift it to anyone. That being said, it wasn't all that surprising that the redhead's heartbeat accelerated at it and he felt strangely warm inside. It was such a strange feeling, yet even so he subconsciously wished to experience it more often, wanted to feel it more vividly, and he somehow knew just what needed to be done in that case, it was so simple-

Their little moment was interrupted when Seijuurou finally returned with their drinks. He set all three of them down and took a seat as well, afterwards pushing the orders to their respective owners.

''Usually this cafe is much more crowded this time of the day,'' Seijuurou commented glancing over the room while stirring his steaming coffee.

''I suppose we're lucky,'' Tetsuya shrugged, adding sugar to his tea.

''Good thing too, I'll have less people to glare at for staring at you,'' the third member of their party muttered as he took a small sip of his own coffee. However, even if it was almost completely indistinguishable and most people would write it off a completely nothing, the male's eye twitched oh-so slightly and quite an imperceptible scowl appeared on his lips and brows as he stared down at his drink on the table now.

''Ah...'' Seijuurou tilted his head a bit to the side, his eyes not leaving his brother. ''They put cinnamon in it, didn't they?''

Even if the younger redhead didn't answer anything, Seijuurou swiftly changed their drinks with one another, earning a cold stare from his twin.

''What are you doing?'' he asked, sounding quite irked.

''You despise coffee with cinnamon, while I don't mind it,'' the older student answered with a light shrug.

''There is no reason for you to-''

''Senjirou,'' the other interrupted him with a sigh. ''Last time you insisted on drinking coffee with cinnamon, you looked sick the whole day. Don't be so stubborn.''

The displeased boy only huffed at that comment, turning his head away from his brother, while Tetsuya stared at Seijuurou with slight bewilderment.

''I thought he disliked coffee with chocolate?'' he inquired curiously.

''Yes, chocolate, cinnamon, coconut oil and vanilla are all ingredients no one should put in his coffee or any drink for that matter.''

''How did you know it was specifically cinnamon, then?''

A small, almost a shy smile adorned Seijuurou lips as he momentarily glanced at his brother, who still refused to look at him, yet the frown on his lips was enough of an indicator that he didn't like where this topic was heading.

''Well, it may sound strange, but he makes a slightly different expression depending on the ingredient of his distaste,'' the redhead explained in a moderately hushed voice as he leaned in closer to Tetsuya. ''By now I'm able to discern them.''

''That's impressive,'' his companion expressed his amazement. ''You know him that well?''

''He wishes I knew less,'' Seijuurou lightly chuckled, a mild teasing tone audible in his voice. ''If people were to learn how he truly is...''

The younger twin cast a nasty glare at his brother before snapping at him:

''Go die.''

Seijuurou merely softly laughed at the retort (he probably received a lot of those), before his phone's ringtone interrupted him. Glancing at the caller's ID, the male released a sigh and stood up.

''Excuse me for a minute,'' he murmured, walking away from the table to answer that call. It sounded important.

Senjirou heaved a sharp sigh as he followed his brother with his eyes, not losing that cold look.

''That brat always acts so confident and mighty, when he can't do anything right by himself,'' the redhead muttered. ''Everyone thinks of him as of some sort of god. It irritated me greatly.''

''And yet, you're still very protective of him,'' Tetsuya commented softly, watching the other's reaction carefully. ''You don't actually hate him as everyone thinks you do.''

The irked boy merely huffed, still not looking at the tealnet in front of him. However, that slight wavering in his cold eyes didn't go unnoticed by Tetsuya.

After pondering for a few beats, the smaller student moved closer around the table to Senjirou, so he would be seated next to him. Without looking at him, the redhead took the tealnet's hand and intertwined them, directing his gaze to them.

''I suppose,'' he released a sigh. ''The thing is... I really do dislike him for a lot of reasons, mainly because everyone sees him as the superior one of us two while in reality he is much more insecure than he let's on, but always hides it because he always strives to be the perfect student everyone could look up to like the brat he is, but... Because of that he doesn't have anyone to protect him, no one knows him good enough to realize he's much more sensitive than anyone thinks. And even though I _hate_ that he always acts better than me, I _hate_ that he always moralizes me even thoughhe would be _nothing_ without me, I...''

''You still care for him,'' Tetsuya finished his sentence quietly.

The redhead clicked his tongue, looking anywhere but the male next to him.

''That is a very strong word,'' he murmured. ''He always tries to look out for others, but if I don't do the same for him, who will?''

Suddenly, the boy groaned quietly and almost slammed his head to the table, starling Tetsuya in the process. Before the latter could ask what the problem was, an irritated mutter left Senjirou's lips:

''I hate the thoughts I'm having right now,'' He stared at the glass for a few short moments before he closed his eyes and spoke in a slightly strained voice. ''It pains me to say this, but Seijuurou should win this argument. At least I could be certain he would take good care of you and I believe you would do the same for him. Really, now that I think about it, I wouldn't trust anyone else with him,'' a light, almost bitter chuckle left his throat. He turned his head to Tetsuya's direction, his now unreadable eyes boring into the smaller boy's. ''He needs a person who would see past his smiles, his mask of confidence and would never hurt him. I wouldn't be there forever, after all.''

Senjirou once again groaned in displeasure and hit his head to the table a couple of times.

''Since when did I become so sentimental?'' he muttered more to himself.

''It really is quite unlike you to willingly give away victory,'' Tetsuya commented with a small smile.

''I know, I'm supposed to be _absolute,_ what's wrong with me?'' the redhead bit his lower lip. ''Why am I convincing you to choose that brat instead of myself?''

''Maybe because you care for your brother more than you think?''

The male merely grunted something under his breath, his thoughts wandering elsewhere. He wasn't usually this open- scratch that, he was _never_ this open, but for some reason it was incredibly easy to talk to Tetsuya. He didn't judge him, he seemed so understanding and careful and didn't _fear_ him like almost everyone else. Somehow... he felt like he could trust Tetsuya. Could just a sweet smile be deceiving?

''Is something the matter?'' a sudden voice snapped the pair out of their trance. Senjirou abruptly straightened up, only then seeing that his dear brother had returned and was observing them slightly taken aback.

''Everything is fine,'' the younger twin answered nonchalantly, reluctantly releasing the tealnet's hand so he could return to his previous seat.

''Okay...'' Seijuurou murmured a bit suspiciously while sitting down, since he could quite obviously see the slightly over the edges spilled coffee next to his brother, as if it had been shaken. But from his brother's expression he could tell he won't find out anything, not now anyway. He lifted up his cup and took a small sip. ''Ah, shame, it has already gotten lukewarm.''

''Well, you were gone for quite awhile,'' Tetsuya commented as he scooted back to his seat.

''Yes, unfortunately the phone call got stretched out. Father called.''

''Will you need to leave soon, then?'' the tealnet asked slightly deflated.

''No, he didn't mention anything about that,'' Seijuurou shook his head in denial. ''Fortunately.''

The younger twin would have quite liked to throw a remark at that, but decided not to. He was still rather baffled with his own thoughts and didn't wish to regret his words afterwards. Not that he usually did, or admitted it anyway.

''Anyway,'' Seijuurou placed the cup on the table and placed his elbows on the table, intertwining his fingers in front of himself as that small smile was once again back. ''I've interacted with you quite little today, unlike my dear brother here as I assume.''

''We must fix that, then.''

And they did. It was quite easy for Tetsuya to engage in a conversation with this certain twin, he was always (or at least most of the time) in a benevolent mood, so it was quite easy to approach him. Their talk was mostly light, accompanied with occasional smiles and chuckles, just how a regular chat between friends would be. However, both of them noticed that the third member of their small party was oddly quiet. Really, he kept staring out the window or down to the glass table, only occasionally glancing at the talking students, yet even then his look seemed unreadable. Tetsuya had to admit, he most likely knew what was bothering the redhead. He probably gave him a lot of thoughts. Good thing Senjirou was already attending university and wasn't a teen anymore, from what Tetsuya had heard, those days were quite dark for the two twins. Neither of them wished to talk about it more than necessary, and Tetsuya didn't pressure them. They had to live in the present, after all.

Then suddenly, without warning, Senjirou stood up and with a quiet apology left the table. The two remaining students followed him with their eyes, worry lacing their looks.

''Something seems to be troubling him,'' Tetsuya commented, watching as the male disappeared inside one of the further corridors.

''Indeed,'' Seijuurou hummed in agreement, tracing his lower lip slowly with his thumb. He shifted his worried rubies back to the tealnet in front of him. ''He's not usually this... absentminded. What exactly did you two discuss while I was gone?''

''Well, it got quite personal...''

''Personal?'' the redhead seemed taken aback. ''He never talks about such topics, at least according to my information. He's usually so closed up, so distant...'' Seijuurou sighed, lightly rubbing one of his eyes as a bitter chuckle left his lips. ''I suppose I'm the one to blame, even though I tried so hard for him to...'' he heaved a shaky sigh and closed his eyes momentarily.

Tetsuya understood what the younger twin had meant. Really, you had to be so careful with this fragile being... Even if it didn't seem like it from first glance, even if it seemed he had his life neatly coordinated and planned out.

The tealnet moved a bit closer to the quiet student and began gently caressing his closer thigh in a soothing motion.

''If you want to talk about it, I'll listen to every word,'' he spoke in a hushed voice. ''But if you don't, I won't pressure you. You shouldn't push yourself as well.''

Seijuurou hummed softly for a few moments before he finally rested his head in his palm on the table and opened his eyes, yet they seemed a bit unfocused. Tetsuya wasn't sure he even heard his words.

''Not many people know this, but when we were little, we were very close,'' the man started quietly. ''Thanks to our mother mind you, she always tried to prevent any competition between us from occurring. It was a tedious task, but somehow she managed it. Honestly, the only thing we ever competed for was her attention,'' a soft chuckle left his lips. However, that small smile was soon wiped clean from his lips. ''We were kids, we were naive. Me especially. How could I have thought we'd retain such a relationship into our teenager years?.. Well, we didn't even reach that age when our mother deceased. We were incredibly vulnerable at that time of course, and now that I think about it, there were many ways to use that situation for us not to break apart. But, well, I was a child. All I saw was our father growing colder and increasing the workload on us tremendously, us being the heirs to his business and everything. And I saw how my brother was breaking more and more, the toll he took after our mother's death was too big and neither of us had enough time to recover. And I was so, _so_ scared of losing him,'' Seijuurou's voice wavered, almost breaking. He shut his eyes tightly and covered them with his hand, pressing on them a bit roughly. ''Perhaps I made a mistake. Perhaps I shouldn't have done it, perhaps now our relationship would be different. But one day I approached my father and convinced him to transfer all the workload to me, to place all his expectations on me. I promised to be the perfect student, son and heir, I promised to _handle_ all those duties, just so my brother wouldn't have to, just so he could have an easier childhood or life for that matter. Please understand, I only meant well, I only meant well...'' Seijuurou murmured, sounding almost desperate. It really broke Tetsuya's heart, and he quietly wrapped his arm around the other's back and began gently and slowly rubbing his upper arm soothingly. Perhaps it was subconscious, but the redhead leaned in a bit closer to the contact. ''But of course, he misunderstood my intentions terribly. He honestly believed I did so just to gain more attention from our father and to appease him, _to be the favorite son._ I truthfully didn't think he would come to such a conclusion, but now that I think back, the outcome of my actions was very clear. And obviously, from that point my brother started loathing me, distancing himself from me as much as possible. He must have thought I betrayed him or something. Of course, it hurt me greatly, but I kept convincing myself it was for the best. If our relationship breaking would be the cost for his peaceful childhood, I would pay it. But how stupid I was!'' the man unexpectedly rose his voice, uncovering his eyes and snapping them open. He quite painfully bit on his knuckle to restrain that rising tremble. ''From the very beginning he had displayed a tendency for victory, perfection. I was foolish to think me trying to become the flawless student wouldn't affect him. He gained that _idiotic_ idea of absoluteness and strove to become better than me at anything, started competing with me almost through blood, threw all those lessons and morals our mother had taught us about relationships, connections, friends, anything really, out the window just to reach victory, to prove he was better, to show he could reach much higher, even if the cost would proportionally be much more severe as well. Those times when he was so power-driven, irrational and almost insane were very dark for the both of us. The only thing that kept me from breaking down was merely the belief that if I did, it would only become worse for my brother. But even without that, I had done so many terrible things. I ruined our relationship, destroyed any potential trust he would have had towards other people during all of his school years, drove him to such horrific lengths, and now these never-ending arguments about everything and that twisted people's judgment of us... He would be a fool if he didn't hate me,'' Seijuurou practically whispered the last sentence, perhaps not trusting his trembling voice anymore. Such a disheveled, troubled _Akashi_ was truly a sight not witnessed every day. But Tetsuya didn't think about these kind of matters. Instead, he without hesitation embraced the fragile redhead tightly, tangling his hand in the other's soft locks and softly combing through them in the hopes of calming him down even just a bit.

''Do not ever again think like that,'' Tetsuya murmured quietly. ''Your brother doesn't hate you, far from it. Everything you talked about... That's all in the past. You meant well, of course you did, you couldn't have known it would turn against you. And even if he didn't understand that in the past, I'm sure that now he does. You seem to notice every detail of him, but can't you see how much he cares for you?'' the tealnet let out a soft smile. ''However, the past can't be forgotten that easily, and it does leave scars. And they won't heal by themselves. They take form in those arguments and resentment, but that can be fixed. What needs to be done now is exactly that – the healing process. All is not lost, believe me. With enough time and effort you would soon have your brother back.''

''I'm not sure whether I, being the source of poison, could change anything at this point,'' Seijuurou mumbled in a hushed voice. He then moved his head back in order to look into Tetsuya's eyes, finally a small, albeit sad smile adorning his lips. ''But I believe you could. You don't judge him... us like everyone else. And to my utmost surprise he actually opens up to you. Yes...'' the redhead closed his eyes. ''Kuroko, if you... If you actually care for us, for him, please, take care of him. Let him have something that I can't. Be someone that I couldn't be. Care for him in a way that I couldn't and didn't. I know I'm asking a lot, but...'' Seijuurou reopened his eyes and cupped the other's face gently. ''Please fix him. I don't think anyone else could. He sincerely likes you, something I didn't think would be possible with him. It would be horrible of me to take that away from him.''

 _Honestly, you two are hopeless._

 _Unbelievable really._

Tetsuya smiled warmly at him, clasping his hands over Seijuurou's.

''You two truly are something,'' he chuckled lightly, softly shaking his head. ''Perhaps it's time we go search for your brother. He has been gone for quite some time now.''

''Oh, I suppose you're right,'' Seijuurou murmured, releasing the other. ''But you should probably go alone. I'm not sure whether he wants to see me right now.''

Instead of answering him, Tetsuya stood up and almost forcefully pulled the taken aback redhead up as well. He interlocked their hands together and began leading them through the room, a quiet chuckle leaving his throat.

''Truly unbelievable.''

 _And they seemed intelligent._

 _They're lacking quite a lot in the socializing department, though._

~.~.~.~.~

A few days after their "chat", Tetsuya found both of the twins and asked them to meet him later at their usual place. He had important matters to discuss about. Those couple of days he had been thinking about their conversations, carefully analyzing them and choosing the correct words of approach. Tetsuya needed for this to work, after all. He couldn't mess up. The tealnet held more responsibly on his shoulders than anyone could have thought. So of course he had to muse about everything carefully.

But now, Tetsuya believed he was ready to approach this certain topic.

When the young student reached their discussed place, he was a bit surprised yet interested to find the brothers unusually quiet. Normally whenever they were together, the air would be full of snaps, remarks and other sort of insults. But now they almost awkwardly stood next to each other, a slightly greater distance than usual separating them. They must have been busy with their thoughts these past few days as well.

''Hello, you two,'' Tetsuya greeted them as he finally stood in front of them this nice, moderately warm evening. ''I'll cut right to the chase: I've been thinking a lot these past couple of days and I've concluded one thing: neither of you have an idea how a mediation works.''

The two brothers looked taken aback quite a bit, and they exchanged quick glance before their slightly wider eyes once again landed on the tealnet in front of him, who wore a rather blank expression, and waited for an explanation.

''But honestly, in this case that is great,'' Tetsuya continued, and now a tiny, albeit lovely smile adorned his features. The two twins felt how everything inside of them heated up and made them feel all fuzzy at the sight. That feeling escalated when Tetsuya brought his hand to his chest and placed it over his heart gently, his smile widening by a small fraction. ''The fact that you both were trying to convince me to chose the other was incredibly endearing. It's a bit hard for me to get moved, but that time I certainly did.''

Now the redheads were even more surprised at Tetsuya's words. They once again glanced at each other, but now their gazes lingered, staring into one another's wide, full of puzzlement and confusion eyes.

''You... what?'' Senjirou was the first to break the deafening silence, his voice quiet and laced with disbelief.

''I... You...'' his brother tried to form a decent sentence, but he was failing quite badly. He seemed almost even more surprised at Tetsuya's words. Perhaps that wasn't all that shocking.

''I'm sorry if you had wished to keep this a secret, but... I really think you shouldn't, not from one another at least,'' Tetsuya continued seriously. With his words the two turned their gazes away, perhaps in discomfort?

The tealnet took a step closer and unexpectedly took hold of one if their hands, clasping them with his own. The pair looked at him quite surprised, yet didn't pull away.

''When two teams play against each other,'' Tetsuya started, gazing somewhere to the ground between them. ''You can keep a probability record throughout the game, see how the chances of one winning change with time. But that was impossible with you,'' the young student lifted his eyes to the two puzzled redheads. ''Because this is no mere game. And victory wouldn't solve anything. In fact, it would only make everything worse. Did you two _honestly_ believe I could choose either of you _knowing_ it would cause an even bigger rift to appear between you?'' Tetsuya spoke in disbelief, causing them to either purse their lips and just flinch. ''No, instead, I have a better idea,'' A beautiful smile appeared on the speaker's lips as he tilted his head slightly to the side. ''Let me be the bridge between you. Neither of you should be left with their problems alone. And there's no need for that. We can fix everything together. I will definitely not choose one of you, because one, I like you both completely equally, and two, you both are incomplete without the other. I wish to be the element that helps you to bind back.''

The two redheads stared at Tetsuya in astonishment. Was he actually serious? They spent these few days trying to untangle their complicated feelings, but such a proposal had never actually crossed their minds. We're they honestly foolish to think Tetsuya could chose one of them?..

''So, in other words,'' the younger twin was the first to break the silence as he spoke slowly. ''You're suggesting a polyamory?''

''In more understandable terms, yes,'' Tetsuya nodded without a beat.

The male gazed at the tealnet for a couple of more moments before he shifted his eyes to his brother next to him. And the sight took him even more aback.

''Seijuurou, are you crying?''

The said redhead blinked a couple of times and realized his vision had been blurred with droplets of salty water. He quickly lifted his free hand and hastily began wiping the tears away.

''No, I'm not,'' Seijuurou denied quietly, yet his trembling voice wasn't too convincing. ''It's just that... Kuroko is far too sweet for his own good.''

''So do you like my idea, then?'' Tetsuya asked softly with a gentle smile.

The older twin only nodded while still trying to wipe away newly forming tears. Why did he break down so easily?

''And you?'' the tealnet shifted his gaze to the second brother.

''Well... I suppose...'' he answered in a slightly hushed voice, averting his eyes from the other.

''I'm glad we could come to an agreement,'' Tetsuya flashed them a sincere smile.

''You know, you would be a great mediator,'' Seijuurou let out a shaky chuckle, finally managing to look at Tetsuya.

The tealnet merely lightly laughed at that and without warning embraced both of them over their necks, startling them a bit. However, both of them quickly composed themselves and slowly returned the hug.

It would have been very serene and calm, if only Senjirou didn't lean in a bit to his brother and whisper a single sentence to him, a smirk playing on his lips, causing Seijuurou to snap his head to him in disbelief.

Really, this would certainly be an interesting relationship.


End file.
